That Time When the World Didn't Disappoint Me . . .

It isn't a secret that I have been having kind of a rough go at life lately. I have seriously felt defeated from all angles from my eating habits which have sucked and my overall health; my bloated cankles that after 3 months shrunk to normal size only to send the edema straight to my lungs. Totally a #FML situation. Then there is my living situation which I suppose could be a ton worse but it is compounded by circumstances with the ex husband and of course feeling like an overall shitty mother because I don't feel well and have to be on these meds that turn me into a raging bitch-monster. I have spent the last two nights compiling texts and correspondence and drafting letters and 'Wills' and feeling basically like I am inviting death . . . yes, it seriously was that depressing. I have felt anxious and skittish and obsessive and sad . . .

BUT

(Yes, there is a but)

BUT

TODAY proves that it only takes one little ray of sunshine to brighten the darkness.

TODAY I had an appointment across town for an exam with a new dentist.

I was FREAKING OUT. Internally of course.

If you would like to read about the absolute nightmare of my last dental experience, CLICK HERE and HERE.

I tried turning on my favorite Christian radio station and just losing myself in the music and it sorta kinda maybe worked until I arrived. I told myself I was cool. I was calm. But my blood pressure was through the roof. I could feel my heart beating in my chest and I was sitting still. No exertion to make that necessary.

I arrived 40 minutes early. Filled out the new patient paperwork and waited. I chit-chatted with the receptionists who were exceptionally nice as well as an elderly woman who seemed just as nervous as I was. I watched another young lady who appeared to be my age but might have been a bit mentally challenged because she could not sit still and kept tipping her chair from side to side to side. This seemed to make the aforementioned older lady a bit nervous and perturbed as well. I waited and waited with my gut in my throat and when they called me back at 10 minutes past 2 I tried to calmly walk back.

They had me sit in the customary chair. They pulled up my X-rays that they had taken at the previous dental office.The doctor this time, instead of a mean Chinese lady (like at my last dental office) was a very mild mannered, humorous Japanese man. His assistant was Latino-American and they both made me feel very comfortable.

Even still, when they took my blood pressure it was 146/94. YIKES! Just the other day at the doctor (due to my steroid medication it had been 194/110 so it was down a bit but when you're used to seeing 120-ish over 80-ish that high number is concerning)

They poked and prodded around a little bit telling me my wisdom teeth are impacted but that they didn't need to be extracted . . . yet. That if my filling from hell bothered me any more it could be extracted or I could have root canal therapy but just to watch and wait. They told me I had one cavity that needs filling (not 3 like the other dental place) and one that could become a cavity but they will just watch it. I was scheduled for a normal cleaning . . . no deep cleaning with laser pushing at this office . . . and the one filling and was sent on my way. Comfortable. Satisfied. HAPPY!

I snapped this picture in the bathroom before I left (By the time I left I had to pee like a race-horse) to show that I could leave a dental office smiling, not crying.

 
My confidence in humanity and the people who work in dentistry has been renewed. Granted, they haven't done any actual work on my teeth yet, so come October I will have to weigh in on whether they are as good as I am making them out to be. But if this visit was any precursor for what is to come, I think I will be very happy.